Serie A Mid-Season Table Analysis

This was a good year so far for Serie A. Juve is climbing back, Roma are changing and are just starting to get a hang of things. Hell, Atalanta for a period were the most exciting team to watch. Udin who where primed to get regulated by some rather passionate people are doing great, and Palermo are as crazy and Schizophrenic as always.

We had unexpected heroes, and old veterans not performing. Inter for a while looked like a falling rock, with even the ageless Zanetti getting a rare red card, the second in his career. And Lazio have been soaring to heights courtesy to a certain German.

All that would be analyzed in due time. Now, I will look at the league as a whole. From the Cl battle to the relegation struggle.

First, let us look at the table as it is now:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_Serie_A

From the look of it now, the story cannot be told in full.

Scroll further down to see the positions with each passing round to get a grasp of the full tale of this Serie A season.

Here are the big themes of this Season.

The Fall and Rise of Milan:

Both teams started pretty badly with Milan waiting till the 11th round to break into the CL area’s and Inter only reaching their current 5th position which is their highest in the 15th round.

Both team’s fortunes will be discussed separately, but their troubles at the beginning allowed other teams to soar to the front.

Southern Pride:

Historically, northern teams were the more successful teams, and looking at the past few Seasons no Southern team amounted to much outside of Palermo.

This season saw the emergence of Napoli as a serious candidate and the emergence of Sicily as a troubling destination for any team. Napoli’s fortune’s will be discussed separately, but the Sicilian tale have been particularly interesting.

Palermo have lost two of their best start, and yet they had a perfect record at home for most of the season. Despite their woeful away form, Palermo never went lower than 10 and they currently are in 9th. Their Sicilian rivals Catania have been as consistent, if not more so. The Gli Elefanti have played really good football this season, with Montella at the helm, they have posed questions to each and every team they faced and deservedly sit at 8th spot just below Montella’s former club Roma.

Elsewhere in the South, Cagiliari have been great at the beginning but then lost momentum and sunk to their current 15th position. Anyone watching them would notice that while they are sinking lower, their performance have not actually became worse. They must be sorely missing a certain Juve player, as there proficiency in front of goal is the prime reason they have been dropping points, as their last match with Milan would prove (they had more shots, and more territory, yet failed to score).

Unfortunately for the minnows from the south, Lecce, things have not been as proud as they could have been. Their main weakness not being able to hold on to an advantage as KPB would testify for. They are currently at the bottom and have been hovering in that area since the 5th round, and they are good candidates for relegation.

Midtable Mayhem:

This season, the traditional Midtable battlers are here. with Genoa again failing to do a Napoli, and Palermo never reaching their potential. This season, Fiorentina continued their fall from grace with another midtable battle to contend with.

Perhaps, the most striking thing about this season’s midtable is how much it changes. With only 3 teams staying in the same position two matches or more in a row. Any of these teams can and did give an upset over a superior team.

The teams in yellow Chievo and Parma both have given some outstanding displays, with Parma in particular with their borrowed stars giving some swell games.

The choice of this year’s midtable is without a doubt the men from Lombardy, the outstanding players of Atalanta. Without their 6 point penalty the Orobici would be contending for European football. They have slowed down recently, but they have produced some really good players, and those same players might be harvested this January.

Relegation:

This is perhaps the most obvious relegation struggle in recent seasons, with Novara team in the relegation zone with a real case in why they shouldn’t be.

Cesena have played woefully, and stayed the most round in the last spot. And Lecce simply showed they lack experience and drive. Siena and Bologna in contrast have shown some heart, and the both just in top of the relegation zone.

Regardless, 3 of these five teams will probably get relegated, with the teams in the midtable all having more quality than these five.

3 Cl Places:

Perhaps the loss of a CL place lit a fire under their groins, perhaps it is natural law. but whatever the reason is; this season 7 teams are competing for 3 spots, and they are competing with all their spirit.

Juve are the only unbeaten team but not the only constant one, Lazio and the grocery shop of Udin have both been pretty constant. At least compared to the whirlwind from Milan, Napoli, and transitional Roma.

Regardless, this battle is going to be epic, with ANY ONE of these teams capable of getting into the top 3, even if not the title.

Yes, the title might be out of reach for some of those teams, but they can get that 3rd CL spot at the last gasp. Just for this reason, the title and the 3 CL spots will most probably only be decided at the last day.

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Statistics:

Outside of one weird round, most rounds have shown high scoring games with the total goal per game ratio being:

2.73 goals/game.

Milan are the highest scorers, and have the highest difference.

Udin are the strongest defense.

Cesena are the side with the worst offense.

Lecce is the side with worst defense as well as worst difference.

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Discussion Questions:

Who will win the Title?

Who will be the 3 Cl spots?

What will be the best result Cl-wise for Serie A?

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It's been a good season so far

Just hope it stays this exciting for the next half of the season

I really missed your serie a weekly thread.

Great read once again !

Who will win the Title?

Milan are still the team to beat.I think they'll win this season as well

Who will be the 3 Cl spots?
This is really hard but i'd go with
1.Milan 2.Juve 3.Napoli.

What will be the best result Cl-wise for Serie A?

I dint get your question !You mean from the Co-efficients perspective ?

The best result CL wise for Serie A would be if Basel beat Bayern AND hopefully, fingers crossed, Barca beat Leverkusen. Might be a bit too much to ask though

I honestly think that we arent going to catch Bundesliga tbh.I've just about given up on the co-efficients.

I think Serie A will continue with three spots for a few more years tbh.

Although i hope Udinese and Lazio go far in the El.

Earning points by doing well in this mickey mouse competition called the EL is the only way we can even hope to get back that 4th spot.

I meant what would be the best 3 CL representatives for Serie A.

For example, I think Napoli missing out will be disastrous.

Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

Im a bit worried about Napoli,they need to step it up to get in CL again next year,i dont trust Juve.Pretty funny how well they step it up in CL but are not so good in serie a

I can see Inter getting to the second spot very soon....

I think Atletico will beat Lazio and comfortably as well.I dunno about the udinese match though.Dunno what to expect.

Lazio and Udinese seem to be putting all their efforts in finishing in cl places this season.

I honestly think napoli will beat Chelsea but i have my doubts over Milan.

Inter will beat Marseille as well imo.

Have you seen Atletico this season?They are piss poor,cant even win against Segunda teams. The fact they are 12 in La Liga says enough

Sitting pretty at the top in their El group.

Ganso i am not making a prediction based on their respective squads or their form in the league this season but simply by the fact that Lazio wont take this tie seriously i'm sure.

They were actually somewhat struggling and had a laid back attitude in a must win game against a Sporting B-team.They would have gone out if Sporting had fielded a half decent team.The fact that kozak was leading the forward line in that game says it all.

And since Lazio have had such a brilliant first half of the season i can see them putting all their efforts in finishing in cl places.

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

McLewis wrote:

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

Probably to win the Europa League or atleast do well in the competition.

Surag.Blueguy wrote:

McLewis wrote:

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

Probably to win the Europa League.

Ridiculous expectation then. That was never going to happen this season. I could've told you this last season before all of the takeover stuff went down.

lol.I edited my post.Talking from my point of view i atleast expected Roma to enjoy a good run in the competition.

McLewis wrote:

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

i was expecting Roma to at least be in one of the EL spots by December

Surag.Blueguy wrote:lol.I edited my post.Talking from my point of view i atleast expected Roma to enjoy a good run in the competition.

That's more realistic, but going out early did us a big favor honestly so I didn't lose any sleep over it.

Ganso wrote:

McLewis wrote:

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

i was expecting Roma to at least be in one of the EL spots by December

And we're one spot off from the last EL place. Considering the massive transformation, I'm completely content with our current standing. We are exactly where our performances have placed us.

16th to 5th in three weeks

Get in you beauties

Great read.

All I can say is that it's going to be a real shame that Roma, Napoli, Udinese, Lazio or even Inter are going to miss out on Champions League football to accommodate Borussia Mönchengladbach, Schalke, Werder Bremen, Leverkusen, Dortmund or Hannover.

Analysis.... or summary?

McLewis wrote:

Ganso wrote:Im pretty disappointed with Lazio and Roma,i was expecting more form them.Lets see if they turn these meh performances around.Cant wait to see Lazio beat Atletico

.

What exactly were you expecting from us? I'm genuinely curious.

I was expectin more even though u guys are a team in building at the moment.

I think another year or so for u guys and u will def be up there.

But yea i was expectin better.

I wasn't expecting much from Roma, they're a young team with a young manager. The talent is there and we are starting to see it more and more but in a season or two they'll be very fun to watch if they maintain this group and polish it a bit.

Roma have to just stick with the system for a bit. Tbh, i think that when Totti eventually retires, only then they will be able to truly change their style completely.

Forza Rossoneri wrote:Great read.

All I can say is that it's going to be a real shame that Roma, Napoli, Udinese, Lazio or even Inter are going to miss out on Champions League football to accommodate Borussia Mönchengladbach, Schalke, Werder Bremen, Leverkusen, Dortmund or Hannover.

So true.

Ofcourse neutrals might prefer the more glamorous sides in the competition.

But if we speak from a Bundesliga perspective ,its only gonna get better for them now that mid-table sides like a Hannover or a Gladbach can lure quality players to the league since they would be offering them Champions League Football.

But i do think that losing a cl spot is the best thing ever to happen to Serie A. It has made the league 3x more competitive.

damn I missed your posts ))

btw why every1 underestimates Juve so much ?